The number of Filipinos who received their COVID-19 booster shots remains low at 27 percent of the eligible population, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.
Based on the DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 21.2 million Filipinos have already received the booster shot as of January 15—a far cry from the 73.8 million who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
However, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire pointed out that the increase of the booster uptake to 27 percent was already an improvement from last year’s data wherein 23 percent of the eligible population was boosted.
“It’s still a bit slow, but at least we’re improving and I hope we can encourage more of our citizens to get vaccinated,” she said in a radio interview.
Vergeire said Filipinos may still get their primary vaccine series and booster shots at primary care facilities, hospitals, and designated vaccination sites of local government units.
Pending the arrival of the bivalent COVID-19 jabs in the country, Vergeire stressed the benefits that these second-generation vaccines may bring to the recipients, particularly against the more transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
A health expert on Wednesday meanwhile said the wearing of face masks is still necessary even if the World Health Organization (WHO) declares an end to the global health emergency due to COVID-19.
Citing the updated guidelines of WHO on COVID-19, infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante underscored the importance of wearing masks in community settings given the prevalence of the coronavirus around the world.
“We are still not saying that COVID-19 is already gone. Even if the public health emergency is
lifted, it is only because the cases are now manageable, the hospitals are no longer getting full, and many have been vaccinated already. But, COVID is still here in the community,” Solante said.
At present, wearing of face masks both in indoor and outdoor settings in the country is voluntary, based on the executive order released by Malacañang in October last year.
Speaking on the new vaccines meanwhile, Vergeire said before the year 2022 ended, the Food and Drug Administration has already issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the bivalent vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer.
The DOH is planning to make bivalent vaccines available in the country by the first quarter of 2023.
Vergeire said they expect that the donations from other countries will arrive earlier than those procured by the national government./Willie Casas